S’Leone to withdraw Somalia troops over Ebola

Sierra Leone is withdrawing its
troops from Somalia after the
African Union blocked the West
African country from rotating its
soldiers over fears for the Ebola
virus.
Sierra Leone sent 850 troops to
Somalia for a 12-month
deployment to fight the al-Qaeda-
linked rebel group, al-Shabab, in
Somalia in 2013.
Their rotation was delayed after a
group of 800 soldiers, who were
waiting to replace their comrades
in Somalia, were quarantined after
one of the soldiers was tested
positive for Ebola.
“They have to go. We wish they
could have stayed but they have
been here long. And there is no
rotation possible because of the
nature of the situation,” Maman
Sidou, the AU’s special
representative for Somalia said
during a farewell event for the
troops held in the port city of
Kismayo on Friday.
In August, Somali’s President
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said no
new troops from Sierra Leone will
be deployed to his country after
calls by activists and a campaign on
social media by Somalis calling for
halt to the deployment.
“This is something that is beyond
the control of Republic of Sierra
Leone, beyond the control of AU
and beyond the control of the
Federal Republic of Somalia; but we
have clearly stated that we are very
grateful for their contribution. They
came to Somalia at a very difficult
time. They are leaving Somalia in a
much, much better situation,”
President Hassan said during the
heavily guarded farewell
ceremony.
The African Union which has more
than 22,000 troops in Somalia from
Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda,
Burundi, Nigeria and Ghanan said
the departing soldiers will now be
replaced by other troops from
countries that already have boots
on the ground, until the virus has
been fully contained.
The troops will withdraw from
Somalia in January.
The worst outbreak of the Ebola
virus in history has claimed the
lives of more than 7,300 people this
year in West Africa according to the
World Health Organization. In Sierra
Leone there have been more than
2,470 deaths reported